I’ve been a Batman fan for most of my life, so when “Batman Begins” came out a few years ago and erased all the nasty memories I had of the day-glow “Batman Forever” and “Batman and Robin,” I was ecstatic. And when they finished the movie with a nod to The Joker as the sequel’s big bad guy, I was even more excited. For Batman and his fans, the Joker is the ultimate villain – even more important to the hero than Lex Luthor is to Superman in my mind.

So I guess you could say I was pretty excited to see “The Dark Knight” this weekend. And I was not disappointed.